Who says "patapaa" can win election 2016 for the NPP?

By Dr. Michael J.K. Bokor

Saturday, April 9, 2016

Folks, I have been very clear in my criticism of the rogue and book politics being done by Akufo-Addo and his NPP cabal all this while. In doing so, I haven't hidden my disgust for their penchant for arm-twisting and needless headbutting all over the place as if without them Ghana cannot be Ghana. I don't regret for taking them to the cleaners all this while because they need cleaning and cleansing. Here is why:

As if bent on using "patapaa" to pave the way for them to win general elections in Ghana, they have remained fixated on crude political manouevrings such as street demonstrations, dastardly persecution of political opponents or their own followers with dissenting voices, badmouthing of their arch rival (the NDC and President Mahama), looking for dung where no NDC cow grazed, and flexing muscles for a fight that no one but they themselves are poised to fight!!

And they have embarked on ridiculous Quixotic ventures, using their lackeys in state institutions to leak information to them that turns out to be nothing but a farce. That explains why their so-called economics whiz-kid (Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia) is all over the place, churning out stale theories and plain lies. A poor soul being sucked dry to be discarded at will when he loses traction---which he will very soon. All the noise he is making about Ghana's economy doesn't provide any solution from the NPP's perspective to win the hearts and minds of Ghanaians. It's all talk-talk and scare mongering. Countries are not built with his kind of negative talk-talk.

Beyond that talk-talk is the plain disregard for the regimen of law and order in the country. By flouting such regimen and mobilizing their supporters to take to the streets in pursuit of their anti-Mahama agenda, they fail to know that although Ghanaians may be complaining about hardships, they will be the last to wish for violence as a means to put Akufo-Addo in power. Need I say more?

Still not sure of how to organize themselves to appeal to the electorate, they have chosen to confront the Electoral Commission as if doing so will smooth their path to electoral victory. They are all over the place, condemning and threatening the Chair of the EC (Mrs. Charlotte Osei) or any institution that they construct as their nemesis. They are "at war" with the country's security services and are bent on doing things as they wish.

No wonder, then, that they would go for the three South African ex-combatants only to be caught pants down. They breached the country's security regimen by doing so and come across as grossly lawless. Who needs such characters in power?

There is more up their sleeves, though. It has now emerged that they are designing their own number plates for vehicles ("VOTE NPP 2016") in a clear violation of laid-down regulations. Is that how to appeal to voters?

They may be doing other things yet to be exposed. And they will be exposed big time to be doomed!!

Folks, what all these "huhudious" doings by the NPP cabal tell me is that it is simply not sure of how to organize itself for the battle. Using "patapaa" will not save it from doom. There are better ways to reach out to the electorate than the lame-duck approach that they have adopted. Can they not know and do better?

Meantime, the fire burning their fractured edifice is still raging on. The suspension of wise voices of dissension (Paul Afoko and Co.) and the negative fallouts will continue to haunt them till they either retreat or surrender. No flight to the Rawlingses will save them either. Neither will their public show of desperation and abject frustration.

Their demonstration in Kumasi this week speaks volumes about their "patapaa" politics, which won't end well for them. I will continue to tell them what they hate to be told, even as they find it difficult to tell Ghanaians what exactly they will do better than what the Mahama-led administration has done so far (apart from inundating the public sphere with "yawa" promises here and there).

I have heard President Mahama outline his government's programme of action for Ghana: using the first term to build massive infrastructure for economic take-off and using the second term (after winning Election 2016) to concentrate on livelihood issues (job creation, economic growth, etc.).

I have seen the video clips on President Mahama's rounds in the Western Region; and I can say with all confidence that he is in touch with the people on the ground. I saw the enthusiasm with which they received him wherever he went and can say that he is not the "scarecrow" that the NPP has painted him.

The truth, though, is that his government hasn't yet been able to create the congenial atmosphere for businesses to thrive or for the living conditions to be improved. He has already admitted that fact and assured that the government will turn attention to such areas when retained at Election 2016.

Only a celebrated fool will not see things in their right perspective. No government can do any magic to solve in four years the age-old problems facing the people. That is why all the ugly noise being made by the "al-Houdinis" in the NPP fold mean nothing to me. They wield no magic wand to wave around for problems to disappear. Liars and trouble makers of their kind shouldn't be entertained.

President Mahama has said that Ghana has the second largest economy in West Africa after Nigeria and that his intention for his second term in office is to move the economy forward, based on the foundation that has been laid in his first term. What else should be expected? What is the NPP's message to counteract this programme of action? Patapaaaaaaaaa? Forget it!!

By a long stretch, how will they handle the situation if they win Election 2016 and are in power (May God forbid!!) to be paid back in their own coin? The long and short of it all is that lawlessness doesn't build a country; it destroys it.

I shall return…

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